The Last Word with Matt Cooper

At least 11 inmates from the Portlaoise Prison were hospitalised after a suspected drugs overdose yesterday. Conor Lally, Crime and Security Editor with the Irish Times and Saoirse Brady, Executive Director, Irish Penal Reform Trust discuss the issue of overcrowding and drug taking in prison. To catch the full conversation, press the 'play' button below.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said that Ryanair and Eir were the two most complained about companies when consumers contacted them in the first 6 months of 2024. Charlie Weston, Personal Finance Editor with the Irish Independent, joined Mario Rosenstock for The Last Word’s weekly personal finance slot to discuss this. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conve...

Cal Thomas, nationally syndicated US columnist, and Larry Donnelly, law lecturer at the University of Galway and political columnist with The Journal, join The Last Word to discuss Elon Musk's interview with Donald Trump and more of the week's biggest stories from the United States. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Sunday Times restaurant critic and one half of The Gastro Gays, Russell Alford, joined Mario Rosenstock to give the best tips and tricks for preparing the perfect barbeque. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the chat.

Kieran Cunningham, Chief Sportswriter with the Irish Daily Star and Gavin Cooney, Sportswriter with The42.ie , joined Will O’Callaghan to discuss the government’s pledge to provide an additional €400m of funding for sport following Team Ireland’s success at the Paris Olympic Games. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

Ian Guider, columnist with The Business Post spoke to Will O’Callaghan for Monday’s business news. Up for discussion was exit packages for Intel’s Ireland staff and the Hardware Association of Ireland’s plan to tackle Ireland’s housing crisis. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

Dr Patrick Bury, Senior Lecturer in Security at University of Bath and former NATO analyst explained why this incursion by Ukraine has taken Russia and the rest of the world by surprise. To catch the full conversation, press the ‘play’ button below.

Will O’Callaghan was joined by Joe O’Shea and Elaine Burke for this week’s TV & Streaming slot and they talked about the return of Emily In Paris, the Olympics closing ceremony and the new season of Strictly Come Dancing. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the chat.

Orla Ryan of the Journal.ie and Today FM's Cathal O'Sullivan joins Nathan Murphy to discuss the week's top trending topics from olympics to riots across the UK and Ireland. To catch the full conversation, hit the 'play' button below...

Nicky Ryan and Christine Bohan, co-authors - with Sean Murray - of The Last Disco, discuss how the families of the 48 victims of the Stardust fire pursued justice for more than 40 years. To catch the full conversation, press the 'play' button below.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has reportedly turned down a contract extension and will leave his position next year. Conor Lally, Crime and Security Editor at The Irish Times, joined Nathan Murphy to discuss. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

Dr. Conor Hanly, Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and criminologist Trina O’Connor joined Frank Greaney to discuss how quickly the UK legal system has brought people to justice following riots that took place in recent days. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

With August slipping away it's time to talk back to school tech. Tech journalist, Andy O’Donoghue joins Frank Greaney to discuss the best back to school technology finds as well as how to bag yourself a good deal on second hand laptops To catch the full conversation, hit the 'play' button below...

Frank Greaney was joined by John Gibbons for this week’s environment slot. Up for discussion was how a Kamala Harris/Tim Walz victory may impact climate change, campaigners warning that cruise ships have doubled in size since 2000 and how 2024 is likely to be the hottest on record. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the chat.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Pascal Donohoe, joins Frank Greaney following the publication of Ireland's mid-year expenditure performance review. To catch the full conversation, hit the 'play' button below...

Clodagh Lawlor, one of Ireland's youngest award-winning Country Music stars joins Matt for this week's Culture Club. For the full conversation, hit the 'play' button below...

Sarah McGuinness, Assistant News Editor with the Business Post joined Matt for Wednesday’s business news. They discussed how Coca- Cola HBC has has seen a drop in sales in the first half of 2024 due to the introduction of the deposit return scheme. Meanwhile, Eirgrid has warned of a mass exodus of data centres from Ireland if new connection agreements aren’t signed off on. Hit the ‘Play’ button on...

Irish author Donal Ryan discusses his latest book, Heart, Be At Peace, where he returns to the terrain and characters of his debut novel, The Spinning Heart. To catch the full conversation, press the 'play' button below

Joanne Geary, Managing Director, MyHome.ie, discusses the latest analysis on the second hand housing market. Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory, outlines the number of new addresses that have been recorded up to June, where Dublin saw the highest proportion of new homes. To catch the full conversation, press the 'play' button below.

Following the news that Kamala Harris has selected her VP pick, Cal Thomas and Marion McKeone join Matt to discuss the latest updates in US politics. For the full conversation, hit the 'play' button below...

On this week’s music slot, Matt was joined by John Caddell and Dave Hanratty, host of the No Encore Podcast. They talked about iconic TV moments that were made even more memorable from their soundtracks. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

The National Cyber Security Centre has published a plan on how to deal with future cyber emergencies that may occur in Ireland. Richard Browne, Director with the NCSC joined Matt to discuss it. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

Following the controversial defeat of Ireland's Daina Moorehouse at the Paris Olympics, Gavan Casey, Sportswriter at The42.ie joins the Last Word to discuss the future of boxing at the olympics. To catch the full conversation hit the 'play' button below...

After a busy week in the world of new, current affairs and pop culture, Kieran Cunningham, Chief Sports Writer, Irish Daily Star and Edel Coffey, writer and journalist join Matt to discuss the big headlines of the week. To catch the full conversation, hit the 'play' button below...

The National Youth Council of Ireland has released its pre-budget submission suggesting that more money should be invested in young people. Kathryn Walsh, NYCI Director of Policy joined Matt to discuss. Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.